1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more specifically, to a shelving assembly, including a peripheral frame provided with a slot which slidably receives a glass panel, for a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common to provide vertically adjustable shelves in refrigerator cabinets in order to increase the versatility of storing a wide range of food items. To this end, mainly fresh food compartments of refrigerators have elongated, vertically extending and laterally spaced rails mounted on rear walls thereof, with the rails enabling shelves to be supported in selected vertically adjustable positions in a cantilevered manner. In other arrangements, pegs or rails are attached to or integrally formed with compartment side walls of a refrigerator in order to support shelves thereon. Providing various sets of the pegs or rails at vertically spaced locations along the side walls permits a consumer to vertically reposition a given shelf as desired.
Many refrigerator shelves are mounted in fixed positions in a refrigerator compartment. It has also been proposed in the art to enable shelves to be selectively slid partially out of a refrigerator compartment in order to enhance access to food items stored on rear portions of the shelves. Typically, with the case of cantilevered shelves, an overall shelf support frame must be provided to support a shelf both at the rear of the refrigerator compartment and for sliding movement relative to the support frame. In the case of shelves supported on liner side wall rails of a refrigerator compartment, the shelves can made to slide directly upon the side rails, while including structure preventing tipping of the slidable shelves. Shelves which are directly supported at the compartment side walls typically exhibit an advantage in that the shelves can extend substantially the full width of the refrigerator compartment.
In making a refrigerator shelf, it has become quite common to employ a glass panel as the shelf platform and to encapsulate the glass with a peripheral rim. Glass panels are seen to be aesthetically pleasing, easy to clean and structurally advantageous. In some known arrangements, the peripheral rim is actually molded directly about the glass panel. Other manufacturers will assemble a glass panel to a plastic frame when the frame is still at a high temperature from a molding process. Each of these arrangements generally provides for an inherent seal between the glass panel and the rim to prevent any spilled liquids or the like from running off the shelf. Unfortunately, these types of shelves require somewhat complicated and expensive molding techniques, while the established degree of sealing is not really required. Also known is ultrasonically weld frame parts around a glass panel, which creates an aesthetic shelf but requires more precision manufacturing and assembly. In still other known arrangements, the peripheral rim or frame will be separately made, with the glass panel being attached to the frame. Many of these types of known shelves have generally required either rather elaborate brackets and fasteners, or were simply cumbersome and difficult to assemble.
Even though various arrangements have been proposed to interconnect a glass panel to a separately formed peripheral rim or frame in forming a refrigerator shelf, there is still seen to exist a need in the art for an improved arrangement wherein a glass panel can be easily positioned in a separately formed peripheral frame to create a refrigerator shelf which is economical to manufacture, sturdy in construction and aesthetically appealing, while also being easily made as either a fixed or sliding shelving assembly.